Before the Aftermath
by A Shadow at Twilight
Summary: This is about Shadow's life on Space Colony ARK with Maria 50 years ago. All of their adventures and firsts are explained right here.
1. The Begining

A/N: Ok, this is my first ever fic, so I'm really nervous about this

Ok, this is my first ever fic, so I'm really nervous about this. Please R&R!

--

BEEP! The doorbell rang. When nobody answered, a girl about 10 years old entered the room and looked around. Her eyes fell on the huge glass case in the middle of the room. Something black and spiky was sleeping soundly inside of it. The girl smiled. She walked straight towards the case, and started messing with the case's controls. The case eventually opened, and the girl knelt beside the creature and shook him.

He stirred, and asked, "Is it morning already?"

"Good morning sleepyhead. Are you alright, Shadow? You look tired." she replied.

"Ughh. I had a hard night," Shadow said. He suddenly jumped; startled to remember that it was Monday. "Today's the day the new recruits come up! What time is it?"

Maria checked her wrist-watch. "Ummm…7:30," she replied.

"We're going to be late if we don't hurry! Thanks for waking me up, Maria. I really didn't want to miss this!" Shadow said excitedly.

Maria and him had been waiting for the new yearly recruits for 2 months. Since Space Colony ARK was so big, it was no wonder that they needed a huge staff to run the and research the Colony.

"They quickly ran out of Shadow's room into a busy corridor, racing frantically to the docking station the shuttle was scheduled to land on.

"What time is it scheduled to land?" Maria asked.

"8:00 and we still have a half hour walk from here," Shadow replied.

They ran a little while longer until they slowed down to a steady pace to catch their breath.

"Where are we now?" Shadow asked, looking a bit winded.

"About 15 minutes away from the docking station," Maria said, a bit winded herself.

"At least we bought some time running," Shadow replied.

"So what exactly were you having trouble with last night?" Maria asked.

"Errr…Nothing. Just another bad dream." He replied.

"Did it have to do black aliens again?" Maria asked a bit worried.

"Yes, and it was just like my last one too. It's was like they were calling me. I have no idea why though," Shadow said, uncomfortably. He never liked to worry Maria.

"Maybe you should tell grandfather. He'll know exactly what to do," Maria said.

"You're right, I'll try to ask today if I get the time. I think we'll be so busy with the new kid that we won't even visit the research lab though." Shadow replied, trying to change the subject.

"I totally forgot about him for a second there. What should we do with him anyway? I mean we have no idea what this kid possibly likes, or even if he'll want to be our friend," Maria sighed, remembering what had happened between her and the only other child on Space Colony ARK currently.

"Don't worry, Maria. I'm sure he'll be nice. And as for Jacob, he didn't mean what he was saying. He just seemed mad." Shadow replied.

Maria smiled, "Thanks Shadow, you're the nicest friend that I could ever wish for."

And with that, they entered the docking station, about 2 minutes early.

"We just made it!" Maria said triumphantly.

"With a few minutes to spare," Shadow replied.

They looked around. Not many people were there at the moment, since most people were either resting or on duty. It didn't matter to them, though. They really wanted to meet the new child. All they knew so far was that his name was Evan, and he was Maria's age, 10. They watched as the huge shuttle came into view. They both wondered if the child was just as excited to meet them as they were to meet him.

--That's it for this chapter! If anyone's asking, Jacob turns into the future Commander of G.U.N. and I REALLY needed and wanted to give him a name if he was gonna be in this fic. Evan is obviously an Original Character. As I said I this is my first fanfic and I REALLY would appreciate it if you reviewed it. I accept flames too.


	2. Evan

_Somewhere on Earth: Yesterday…_

"WHAT!! YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!" The boy yelled at his parents. They were all sitting down at the dinner table just finishing up their food.

"Well I am, and you're going no matter what," his mother stated flatly. "You know that because of your father's job that we're never in the same place for long. It's the sacrifice that we make, Evan."

"Well why didn't you tell me like a week ago so that I could at least say goodbye to all my friends?" Evan asked.

"Because this isn't just another assignment, Evan, this one is serious." His father replied.

"Is it so serious that you can't tell your own son what it is?" Evan yelled.

"Yes, actually it is. All I've been allowed to tell you is that we're leaving tomorrow in a shuttle to a top secret research lab named Space Colony ARK, and that my latest assignment is named Project: Shadow."

"Figures. I'm all done. If you need me I'll be in my room PACKING!" he shouted as he stormed out of the room into a hallway.

He opened a door to his left, revealing a flight of stairs. He descended and entered into a small room, his room. Ever since he was born, he remembered constantly moving, moving away from a new house, new friends, a new life. He had just started getting comfortable this time, when the project his dad was currently working on was terminated. He had never remembered a project being so serious that he never knew about it ahead of time, except for this one.

"Hmph, I'll find out soon enough," he mumbled. He suddenly jumped. "Wait, did he just say SPACE Colony ARK?!"

_The Shuttle: Today_

The second they boarded, Evan was instantly amazed at the view outside his window. It was still hard to believe that he was in space. After about an hour, he looked at his father and asked, "Can you please tell us what your assignment is now or do I have to wait any longer?" Now that they were in space, he should be able to tell him everything considering the fact that they were about 1,000,000 miles away from the ground and everybody on the ship had an assignment at least a bit like his father's.

His father sighed. "Sure, I won't be able to keep it from you forever anyway," his father said. "My latest project is called Project: Shadow, as you already know. The project was created by the government and the executive professor of this project is named Professor Gerald Robotnik. Us researchers were hired by the government to make an immortality formula, knowing that with it they would be invincible. I have no idea why Gerald has anything to do with it though, since he is known for only wanting to better mankind, not destroy it. I have no idea how, but he figured out a way to make an immortal creature, known as the ultimate life form. He's becoming closer and closer to discovering the key, and I am being sent up to help him, since he needs ever growing help with this project."

After this his father was silent.

Evan looked at his father in amazement. He had no idea whatsoever that his father's top secret assignment was that incredible. He asked, "What can the ultimate life form do, other than stay alive forever? It would be pretty boring if that was all it could do.

"I don't know exactly. I do know that it can do a lot though according to my notes."

Then he asked, "What's it's name?"

His father looked at him in confusion. "Who's name?"

"The ultimate life form's. It has to have some kind of a name."

"Oh right. I believe it's named Shadow, after the name of the project it was created for."

"Sound's pretty cool, Evan replied, "It'll be interesting meeting an ultimate life form for the first time."

"Well your not. I don't want you anywhere near that thing, Evan. He's said to be very powerful and dangerous. Who knows what it could do to you." His father said sternly.

"But dad, I…"

"No way, Evan. It's out of the question."

_Space Colony ARK: Today_

Soon the ship moved into the boarding area and made a perfect landing. As everybody exited the ship, Maria and Shadow looked around anxiously for their hopeful soon to be friend.

"I wonder what he looks like," Maria said.

"At least we know that he's the only boy scheduled to come this year. It would be very difficult to trace him then." Shadow replied.

Shadow suddenly turned towards the shuttle. He saw a boy just leaving it. He knew automatically who he was.

"Maria! I think I found him. He's over there." Shadow exclaimed, motioning towards the boy. He had blonde hair, and brown eyes. He was wearing a green shirt and jeans.

They started walking as fast as they could. As they approached them, he looked at them in surprise.

Maria smiled. "Hi my name is Maria."

"And my name is Shadow the Hedgehog," Shadow said.

"We just wanted to come down here to meet you and see if you ever wanted to play with us," The blonde haired, blue eyed girl replied.

"We could show you around the ARK too if you were ever interested. You can get lost very easily in a place like this." Shadow replied.

Evan stared at them in astonishment. "Did you say that your name was Shadow?" he asked the black hedgehog.

"Yes. Why do you ask?" Shadow said.

He looked around, scared that his dad might pop up at any time. If he caught him talking to Shadow, he'd go crazy.

"Uhhh… I have to go. Sorry I can't stay to talk. Can we meet somewhere later, but where not many people are?" he asked hurriedly.

"Sure. How about Shadow's room tomorrow morning? Nobody's ever there, so I'd say it'd be the most desolate and easy to get to place. Do you think you can find your way there, Evan?" Maria asked.

"Sure. I'll see you guys at about 8:00 ok?" Evan said.

"Fine with me," Shadow said.

"We'll see you tomorrow, Evan. Bye!" Maria called to Evan as he ran away quickly.

They started walking to the research lab.

"Why did we have to suggest my room? Couldn't it have been yours?" Shadow asked.

"Because my grandfather is having a meeting with one of the new recruits and I know that we won't get any privacy there," Maria replied.

"Good call," Shadow said.

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**Wow that was long! At least I finally got to update! Sorry it took so long! Hope you liked it! Please Review!**


	3. Learning

Space Colony ARK: The Robotnik Quarters, Tuesday, 6:50 a

_Space Colony ARK: The Robotnik Quarters, Tuesday, 6:50 a.m._

Maria had woken up early today and was finishing getting ready when her doorbell rang. It was her grandfather.

"Good morning, Grandfather, how was your sleep?" she asked.

"Fine, and yours?" the Professor asked.

"It was good. Would you like to eat breakfast with me today?"

"I would love to," he replied.

They left their quarters and started towards the Café.

"May Shadow eat with us today, Grandfather?" Maria asked.

"Of course, Maria. We can stop at his room on the way." He replied.

"Thank you."

When they approached Shadow's room, Maria rang the doorbell. Shadow, this time answered.

"Good morning, Maria. Good morning, Professor. How was your sleep?" he asked.

"We both had a good night's rest," the Professor replied, smiling at his own creature's good manners.

"Would you like to come down with us to breakfast?" Maria asked.

"Sure."

_Space Colony ARK: Evan's Quarters, Same Time_

Evan's mom barged into his room.

"Evan! We're going down to breakfast now. Are you coming?" she asked.

"Yes, mom." He moaned. "Can't they ever sleep in like normal people?"

He got ready in record time and went with his parents to the café.

_The Café: 7:10 a.m._

Evan's family arrived at the café and sat down.

"I told you to take a right at that second junction, Carl!" his mom yelled at his father.

"How would I know that it would lead you to engineering? It's only our first day here you know!" He yelled back.

Evan sighed. As if on cue, the waitress appeared and asked if they wanted anything to drink.

"Coffee, black," His father said.

"Just coffee," his mother replied.

"Orange juice," Evan said.

"I'll be right back," she replied, and left them with some menus.

Suddenly Evan saw Maria and Shadow with who looked like the head professor.

They all looked so happy together, talking away.

I wish my family could be like that, he thought.

They sat down in the table across from them.

Their drinks came and they ordered.

Evan looked at Maria and Shadow's table and almost screamed.

"What is that thing at the other table!?" she asked in a low voice.

His father looked over and gasped, "I didn't know that it was capable of higher functions!"

Evan slapped his forehead and sank down in his chair.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"That's the Ultimate Life Form, Clara! Can't you see?"

"Ohhhh…What?! Are you telling me that we're eating next to some wacky experiment?!

"Yes, I guess you could put it that way," he replied.

Maria and Shadow had just finished ordering. They looked over and waved.

Evan waved meekly and sank lower in his chair.

"Let's go, Carl! I don't want to be anywhere near it!

"Yes, honey."

And with that, they left, but Evan stayed behind. He walked over to Maria and Shadow. He was still starving.

"Hey, can I uh, eat with you guys? My parents just left and…"

"Sure, we would love to have you join us. Waitress!" The Professor said.

A waitress came over and the Professor told her to direct Evan's order to their table. Evan took a seat between the Professor and Shadow.

"Evan, this is my grandfather, the head professor here." Maria said.

"Hello, Maria's grandfather, Professor, sir." Evan said nervously.

"Hello, Evan. I've heard so much about you from the recruit profiles. How is your family adjusting, Evan? I know it's very different from past environments." The Professor asked.

"Fine. My parents are just having some trouble getting around."

"It's actually a natural thing here," Shadow replied.

"We all still get lost in sometimes," Maria said. "So why did your parents leave so abruptly?"

"Uhh…I guess they just wanted a quick cup of coffee," he replied nervously.

Their food came shortly. The Professor ordered an eggs and toast, and Maria, Shadow, and Jacob all ordered cereal and milk.

After they finished, they got up and left.

"Where are you kids going today?" The Professor asked.

"We don't really know yet." Shadow said.

"We're just going to go to Shadow's room for now," Maria replied.

"I'll see you all soon," The Professor called as he started walking towards the lab.

"Well I guess it's off to my room," Shadow said.

"Lead the way," Evan said.

After about 5 minutes of walking, they finally reached a door with a plaque to the side that said:

**Project: Shadow **

**Top Secret**

"Are you sure we're allowed in here?" Evan asked, looking at the plaque.

"It's my room," Shadow replied.

They entered the room and looked around. Everything was a crude modern grey. In the middle of the room was a large capsule, obviously Shadow's bed. To the side was a bunch of toys strewn everywhere.

"So this is where you live," Evan said.

"Yes, anyways you can sit here," Shadow replied and gestured towards the floor next to the toys.

"So what do you guys want to do today?" Maria asked.

"I don't know. Did you bring anything with you from Earth, Evan?" Shadow asked.

"I think I brought my skateboard and my bike," He replied.

"A _what?" _Shadow asked.

"You know, you ride on them to get to places, they have wheels..." Evan replied, and then suddenly remembered. "You've never been to Earth, have you?" he asked.

Shadow shook head, "Neither has Maria."

Evan looked at them in astonishment. "That's crazy! You had to have been to Earth at least once, Maria. It's impossible to live here your whole life. This is a research lab."

"Maybe when I was very young but I can't remember a thing about Earth. I live here with my grandfather who is trying to make a cure for a disease I have. The disease remains inactive up here though, which is why I live here. If I didn't I would most likely die." Maria replied.

"This disease isn't contagious, is it?" Evan asked.

"Of course not," Maria said.

"Good," he replied, relaxing. "Anyways back on topic. I brought my skateboard and bike so we might be able to ride them around."

"They'd never let us ride them around the colony. We'd need a big room or something so that they wouldn't get in anybody's way." Maria said.

"What about the track? Nobody's ever there since everyone is always working, so as long as we're all alone, we'll be alright." Shadow replied.

"Good idea, let's go get the stuff at my place," Evan said.

They left Shadow's room and started walking towards Evan's quarters.

"What would happen if somebody saw us?" Maria asked.

"We would most likely have to have a long talk with the Professor and Evan's parents, a LONG talk." Shadow replied.

"Wait, MY parents?" Evan asked.

"They're the ones responsible for you, aren't they?" Shadow asked.

Yes but I forgot to tell you, my parents hate you, Shadow. If they found me hanging around with you they'd kill me, or worse, they'd ground me and I couldn't leave the house for a week!" Evan said, scared that his parents might appear at any time.

"I really can't understand your logic, wanting to be killed rather than grounded. Why would they hate Shadow so much though? He's one of the most kindhearted, caring people I've ever met." Maria said.

"Because they think of him as a dangerous experiment, not as a kindhearted person." Evan replied.

They were silent for a moment.

Then Shadow said, "I don't care what your parents think of me, I want to know what you think. You're still friends with me, right?"

Evan was startled. Nobody had ever asked him how he'd felt, or what his opinion was.

He replied, "I like you, Shadow. You're a very loyal friend and I know that you would never try to hurt me."

Shadow, apparently happy for his answer, though the only way you could tell was from the very slight half smile he gave, said, "Then I consider you a friend too. How are we going to get the bike and skateboard out of your quarters unnoticed if your mother is there and she hates me?"

"I never thought of that," Evan replied, feeling stupid for not remembering that.

"Why can't Shadow just wait around the corner while we go in and get the stuff?" Maria suggested.

"Fine with me."

"I'll meet you two at the track. I'll check and see if anyone's there, and I'll report back to you when I find out," Shadow replied.

Thus the plan went on. Maria and Evan got the bike and skateboard out of Evan's quarters and got to the track as quickly as possible. When they got to the entrance of the track, they were surprised to see a sign on the door which read in sloppy handwriting:

**Closed for Renovations**

"What? You've got to be kidding me!" Evan yelled.

"Wait a minute. That's it! I think it's ok to go in, Evan." Maria said, smiling.

"Does anybody listen to signs anymore?" Evan muttered.

They went in, and saw a huge track that obviously wasn't being renovated at the time, and Shadow in leaning on the wall in front of them.

Shadow approached them, and asked, "You didn't fall for my sign, did you?"

Maria laughed, "Shadow, the Professor and I taught you to write. I know your writing like I know mine."

Shadow smiled, "Let's hope nobody else does."

"Wait a sec. You made that sign to stop people from coming in beside us? That's genius! Next time tell us before you do though."

"Let's just get on with this now, shall we?" Shadow asked. "I want to try the one with two wheels."

"You mean the bike?" Evan asked.

"Let's go with that," Shadow said.

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**Sorry I haven't updated for a while, guys. These past few days have just been so busy! Anyways hope you like the chapter!**


	4. Jacob

**Ughhh!! I have no time anymore! Anyway, here's a good chapter until I get time to do more.**

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"Wow that was amazing!" Maria said as they left the gym.

"I didn't know you'd be so interested in a bike," Evan replied.

They kept on walking for while.

Shadow asked, "Do you want to take the tour now? We'll take you anywhere you wish to see."

"Yeah, actually I was wondering if I could meet the other kids on board." Evan said.

"Jacob and I are the only children here, and Jacob has been acting very strange lately." Maria said.

"Why haven't I seen him yet, and what do you mean by strange?" Evan questioned.

"He stays in his quarters all day doing who knows what and never comes out, even to eat. He's nine, and I used to always play with him, but I never see him anymore for some reason. He seems mad about something." Maria replied.

"Wow, talk about mysterious and anti-social. Do you think I could meet him?"

"Of course. He may not answer his door though. We tried about 5 times last week." Shadow said.

They got to Evan's quarters, dropped off the stuff, and went on their way to Jacob's. Maria and Shadow led the way, and after about 10 minutes on the Gun Lift, and 20 minutes of walking, they were almost there.

"Wow, he lives far away, and what was that thing we were just on?"

"His parents chose to live isolated far from most of the other quarters and the main research lab." Maria said.

"And we were just on a Gun Lift, a special transporting device used to get to far away places on the Colony, like Jacob's quarters." Shadow added.

"Here we are, Jacob's quarters!" Maria replied after another long walk down a corridor.

On the door it read:

Stanley quarters.

No soliciting!

"I can see they're friendly," Evan muttered.

Shadow knocked on the door. A little peephole on the door opened, then there was a crack in the middle of the door. A kid with blue eyes and gray hair looked out, and said, "Only the boy can come in,"

Evan hesitated and looked over to Shadow and Maria. "Do you guys mind?" he asked.

"No, not at all. We'll wait out here," Shadow replied.

The kid glared at Shadow menacingly and opened the door just wide enough for Evan to come through.

Once Jacob let the door close automatically, he turned to Evan. Evan could see him fully now, and noticed that one of his eyes was also brown.

"Uhh…Hi. I'm Evan," Evan replied.

"I know that. Everybody does. It's rare whenever we get kids onboard. I'm Jacob, as you already know." Jacob replied.

"So, why am here alone? Why weren't Maria and Shadow allowed to come in?"

Jacob looked away, "Please, sit down. We have a lot to talk about."

Evan sat down and Jacob sat down opposite him.

"Where should I start? I guess it all started about a year ago. Maria was my best friend. We were playing in the corridors and I wandered off. I heard a noise coming from a room, and I went to investigate. When I looked inside I saw a scene that would haunt me for a long time after that. I saw this black monster, he was huge. He was talking to Maria's grandfather, Professor Gerald, who was looking over something in a capsule for of liquid. He went over to a computer console, and brought the capsule up to full view. As he emptied the liquid, I saw a black and red creature that looked strikingly like a hedgehog and the giant monster combined. Then, it opened its eyes; it horrifying, red eyes, and jumped out of the capsule and walked toward the Professor. It started talking to him, and they both smiled. I knew instantly that the Professor created that monster and panicked. I ran back to Maria and told her to run. She was confused and came with me. She soon found out about the monster and, of course, became friends with it. I swear Maria's compassion will be the end of her. She thought it was "good" and "kind" and then started calling him "Shadow". I tried to tell her that he was an evil, powerful monster but she'll never listen. I haven't talked to her since." After that Jacob went silent.

"Wow. Heyy can you answer this question for me?" Evan asked.

"Sure, what is it?" Jacob asked, recovering from his reminisce.

"What _can_ Shadow do?" Evan asked, "Everyone says he's ultra powerful, but he's so tiny."

"He can do many things. He just doesn't do them unless there's a danger because he's afraid he'll scare Maria."

"Scare her?"

"Yeah, she doesn't approve of fighting and can't stand people getting hurt. I have to give Shadow credit; he at least respects her fears. For Maria, he's something out of her worst nightmare."

"Go on," Evan urged.

"I don't know everything he can do, but I've seen him do some things occasionally. He possesses superior strength and speed. I heard he broke the sound barrier once in training, and another time I saw him lift up a couch with one hand. He can hear people from up to at least 50 yards, whether they're talking or it's just their footsteps. His eyesight can see anything, even in the dark, and he's a sharpshooter. The weirdest thing I saw him do was disappear, he just said "Chaos Control" and he was gone. I think he was teleporting."

"Evan just sat there thinking for while, and then he asked, "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I'm lonely. I want a friend. Maria's been spending all her time with that monster and I'm stuck here all alone because I'm, well, afraid of it. If somebody else tried to stay away from him, then I could have a friend."

"Your _afraid_ of Shadow?" Evan asked, "But why? You said he didn't use his…powers unless he absolutely had to. Maria's been hanging out with him for a year now and she hasn't gotten hurt either."

"Yet," Evan corrected, "The Professor was reluctant to let her play with it because he wasn't sure he was stable yet."

"So? Hasn't he proven that he is?"

"I'm sorry, Evan. I just…can't. If you'd seen the things I have…then maybe you'd understand. Will you still visit me though?" Jacob looked hopeful.

"Yeah, I promise. Just try to get out though. It's a bit unhealthy to stay in here all day."

Jacob looked at him darkly, "But it's out there. I don't know where he'll be or when. I always have to be on my guard."

"Ok then. You're very…warlike. Has anyone ever told you you'd be good in the army?"

Jacob laughed, "Whatever. Go run along with the others. Just the thought of that thing standing out in front of my quarters gives me the chills."

"Whatever. See you later, Scaredy Cat!"

"Goodbye, Physco Dude!"

Evan left the room, but Maria and Shadow were nowhere to be seen. He looked around nervously.

"Guys?" he squeaked, "Hello?"

He turned the corner. Something black detached itself from the ceiling and tapped his back. Evan turned around and gasped.

"Boo," it said, dangling from the ceiling. As it smiled it showed its fangs.

Evan screamed and stumbled back, "S-Stay away from me, y-you monster!"

Just then Maria turned the corner laughing, and the thing jumped down from the ceiling, laughing too. Evan saw in the light that it was just Shadow.

Evan glared at them, and gasped, "That wasn't funny!"

"We're sorry. We couldn't resist," Shadow replied, holding back a laugh.

"You should've seen you're face! You looked horrified!" Maria exclaimed laughing with Shadow.

"What's the next stop?" Evan asked, annoyed.

"A surprise. Come on, we have to go all the way to the core," Shadow replied, already walking ahead at a steady pace.

"Great, more walking," Evan muttered, and followed Shadow and Maria to their next stop.

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**Since I've been wanting to get this chapter up and haven't had the time to I'm gonna stop here. Please review and see you next chapter!**


	5. Eclipse Cannon

**Ok guys I'm sorry about the wait. I had a really busy basketball season, then a ton of homework on top of that. Let's just say I barely had a life. Anyway, I'm starting to write the chapters first in my writing book, then put them on my computer so that I can write faster by taking it places. Also, in my opinion my writing is a bit better when I put it onto a notepad first instead of a computer screen. So anyway, here's two new chapters! Enjoy!**

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"So where to next?" Evan asked.

"We're gonna take you right to the core to show you where all the energy comes from, then since we'll be right over there, we'll show you the Ultimate Weapon, the Eclipse Cannon," said Maria, clearly excited.

Evan on the other hand just looked confused, "Isn't Shadow the Ultimate Weapon?"

"No, I am the Ultimate Lifeform. Believe me, there's a huge difference."

Whatever you say," muttered Evan.

"Oh! That reminds me! Shadow's prototype is over in that part of the colony! We'll visit him too!" Maria exclaimed.

"Let's say we did and go to the research gardens instead," said Shadow.

"But Shadow, he's like your brother! How could you just pass by that general area without paying him a visit?"

"Because he's a gigantic lizard who has a brain the size of a walnut."

"He can't help it; grandfather never realized that he should have given him a brain when he was created."

"Well that's their loss, that monster can go on a long journey off in space for all I care."

"Ooh, I'm gonna need some popcorn soon, this is getting good!" Evan exclaimed.

Maria and Shadow glared at him. Finally Maria broke the silence, and smiled mischievously, saying, "I'll show you Shadow's prototype, whether he likes it or not!"

"Fine, I'm coming!" yelled Shadow.

"That's more like it. Come on, if we're going all the way to the core, we have a long way to walk," and with that, Maria pushed ahead.

After a long walk filled with GUN lifts and elevators, they got to a giant metal door, which used a latch to get in unlike most of the other automated ones on the colony.

"This is the core where all the energy comes from. We can't go in, but you can take a look through this window," explained Maria.

They all peeked inside. The room was at least a thousand feet high, and all the walls had orange energy fluid running down the sides into a small pool on the floor. In the center was a raised platform on which a giant switch covered in a glass case.

"The switch in the middle drains all the energy fluid in case of an emergency, but to be extra safe the professor installed a case around it that opens with a second switch, which is almost impossible to find," said Shadow, "The energy fluid comes from various places, like the sun, from Earth, and in most cases recycled from past use."

"Let's head over to the Eclipse Cannon, we'll at least be able to go in there," said Maria, heading off as the others followed behind.

When they finally arrived at the entrance, Maria punched in a password and stepped back as the door opened. "This is just the control room, wait until you see the blueprints for this thing, it's huge!" Maria exclaimed.

Shadow ran ahead and jumped up on top of a platform revolving around the cannon, which was a giant cylinder running vertically from the floor up. Shadow announced in a poisonous voice, "Behold! The Ultimate Weapon, the Eclipse Cannon! Powered by the legendary Chaos Emeralds, it is unstoppable, destroying whole planets in just one blast! Watch helplessly as we aim for your planet, destroying all you pathetic humans once and for all! Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Shadow now wore a wicked grin, laughing maniacally.

Evan rolled his eyes, "Just get down here and show me it works, Oh Evilest of All Villains, will ya?"

"For that, you will become my personal slave, "Shadow replied, jumping down and walking over to a console underneath the platform he was previously scheming on. He was grinning normally now, though that didn't look much different to his previous one. As he punched in a password and unlocked the computer, he muttered to himself, "Now where should I begin?" Shadow pondered, and then looked at the canon, seeing seven spaces just big enough for a fist to fit in above the console. "Ahh, alright. Those spaces are for the seven Chaos Emeralds. When they're all put into their proper places, the canon will be at full charge, and I was not kidding about the whole this-thing-can-destroy-the-entire-world-with-one-blast part of my evil plot."

"Why would the professor create such a horrible thing? If this got into the wrong hands it could destroy the entire world. Besides I thought the professor only created things that could bring peace to the world, not weapons of mass destruction." Evan asked, confused.

"You realize that the professor not only created the Eclipse Cannon, but my prototype, the Biolizard, and me also? He's made many things that nobody could begin to understand why. I still have no idea what my purpose for living is," said Shadow.

"He never told you?" Evan asked in astonishment.

"No, and whenever I ask him, he won't tell me. He'll just change the subject," replied Shadow, looking back down at the computer console grimly. "Now where was I? Here, let me show you some of the blueprints for this thing. You see, the entire Cannon runs through the core of the colony alongside the energy plant, which is at least two miles…

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	6. Biolizard

**Man, these two chapters took up about 10 pages in my notebook, and its college ruled. Onto the next chapter!**

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As they left the Eclipse Cannon Control Room, Maria smiled, "Time to go see your favorite reptile!"

"What is it with you and attracting highly dangerous experiments to yourself?" Shadow asked, exasperated.

"Look who's talking Mister Ultimate Weapon," Jacob smirked.

"Ultimate Lifeform!"

"Whatever you say," Evan grinned as they reached where the Biolizard was kept.

Maria peered into the window, "That's strange. I don't see anything."

"Alright then now that we know that we weren't missing anything, let's go back to my room and get something to eat," said Shadow as he turned to walk away.

"Not so fast Ultimate Scaredy Cat. Since he's your prototype you have the job of checking up on him. We have no idea what he could be doing in there," Evan replied, grabbing Shadow and pushing him toward the door.

"My _little _brother? He's a giant red and black mutant with a horrible personality," exclaimed Shadow, turning away.

"Seriously have you seen your reflection lately?" Evan asked.

"Fine I'll go check on that blasted thing. I'll be back," and this time he turned towards the door to walk in.

"Who said anything about going alone? I'm not gonna miss a bit of this," said Evan.

"Me too. We wouldn't miss it for the world," Maria exclaimed.

"Fine, follow me then," Shadow sighed while looking at the ceiling with a what-did-I-get-myself-into look He typed in the password on the keypad and watched grimly as the door unlocked and slid open. They all timidly stepped inside expecting, expecting the giant lizard to surprise them at any moment. Evan looked up at the ceiling, where a hug cluster of air sacks hung.

"What are _those_?" he asked, with a look of disgust on his face.

"That's the Biolizard's life support system, or lungs," Maria replied casually, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

While they were talking, Shadow was staring wide-eyed at the giant pedestal at the middle of the room, surrounded by seven smaller pedestals, with a giant green gem on one of them.

"There's a Chaos Emerald over there!" he murmured quietly, but Maria had heard him.

"A Chaos Emerald? But grandfather said we didn't have any on board."

"I know," Shadow started walking toward it, when out of nowhere a giant red and black lizard wearing a device on its back with tubes connecting it to its mouth and the lungs above jumps down from nowhere, and roars in a loud, rumbling voice.

"He finally decides to come out now?" asked Shadow through gritted teeth. He ran straight for the Chaos Emerald at breakneck speed and jumped up to grab it. As he caught it he yelled, "Chaos Control!" and disappeared as he was descending.

"Where'd he go?" asked Maria.

"Shh…Thi ih the bet art," replied Evan, who was stuffing popcorn into his already full mouth.

"Where'd you get that from," asked Maria curiously.

"We pahed by a bending mahine on the way here," replied Evan proudly, "Want hom?"

Maria looked at his overstuffed mouth, "No thanks."

Evan shrugged and continued eating his popcorn like it was going out of style.

At the fight in front of them, Shadow had just reappeared in front of the reptile and started toward it again. As he approached it he jumped up and yelled, "Chaos Spear!" A yellow beam of light erupted from his hand as he aimed and threw it at the Biolizard. Shadow hit it dead on in the back, and the Biolizard gave out an unearthly wail. As Shadow landed he spared no time and started toward the Biolizard again. This time the lizard was expecting him and as he jumped up to attack it knocked him down. As he skidded to a halt 20 feet away Shadow looked up to see the reptile's hulking body coming towards him. Shadow acted on impulse and grinded up one of the reptile's tubes. As he neared its back he rolled into a ball and aimed at the machine on its back yet again. As he hit it the lizard tried to knock him down with its massive tail. Shadow Chaos Controlled out of the way just in time and landed behind the lizard.

"You two get out of here! I'll keep him busy while you make a run for it," yelled Shadow.

"But Shadow…"

"Come on! You heard him! He is the one that can teleport remember?" Evan interrupted, taking hold of Maria by the wrist. They smiled at each other and dashed for the exit. They looked around for a keypad, but saw nothing. There wasn't even a manual handle on the door.

"We're trapped!" Maria exclaimed, panicking.

"Shadow, we could use a little help over here!" Evan yelled over Shadow, who was currently running up the lizard's tail to attack it once more.

Shadow looked over to them and, immediately recognizing the situation, bolted over to them, abandoning his assault on the Biolizard. As he got within contact of them he pulled them both into a huddle and yelled, "Chaos Control!"

In a flash of blinding light, they disappeared. Within seconds they reappeared inside Shadow's room, and fell down in exhaustion.

"Whew, talk about an adventure!" Maria exclaimed.

"Now that we have the Chaos Emerald in our possession, it was all worth it," Shadow replied, examining the emerald.

"Didn't you say that the seven Chaos Emeralds power the Eclipse Cannon?" Evan asked.

"Yes, and they also give me power as well. It is also said that they will perform a miracle for anyone who brings them all together. The professor always told me that when he finally got his hands on a Chaos Emerald he would show me exactly how to use it, but until then he simply taught me a few incantations."

But if he had one, why did he hide it from you? And of all the places to pick!" Maria replied, confusion on her face.

"I have no idea, but until I discover why I'm going to hide the Emerald in here in case I have to use it for an emergency."

"And you don't want to have to deal with the Biolizard again," Evan added, a grin on his face.

Shadow crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, "Can we just go down to the café to eat? Its past lunchtime, and I'm starving from all that combat."

"Good idea, I'll you guys!" shouted Maria, running out the door and taking off down the hall, Shadow and Evan at her heels.

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**Alright you guys, there's some new stuff. I just started working on the next chapter, but I can't promise an exact date. Also, I really need some ideas. If you have anything, please tell me in your reviews. I've got almost an entire year or two to cover here! Catch ya later, and remember to R&R!**


	7. To the Lab!

**Ok don't be expecting two new chapters every time I update here; I just had an excuse this time and maybe another as well…you'll see in the next chapter. As for updating, I'm really sorry since I could've updated last week before camp but I forgot, and when I got back I was pretty much wasted from doing tie-dye all day with evil little children. Anyway, here you go!**

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As they walked out of the café, they all yawned and stretched.

"Alright, time for out final stop on the tour," Maria said.

"Final part? How much walking?" Evan asked.

"Oh, it's nothing. I'd estimate about a quarter mile?" Shadow replied.

Evan sighed, "I'm really gonna get in shape by the time I move off this thing."

They walked in silence the rest of the way, finally reaching a metal door. Maria typed in the password and stepped back as the door opened.

"Why do you guys keep on typing in passwords for everything? If we're way above the atmosphere miles away from Earth, I don't think we'll gonna get infiltrated." Evan said.

"We have a few thousand people on board, and since the professor can't watch over all of them, he set up a password to enter certain restricted areas. Like the one to enter the room where the Eclipse Cannon is 'Future Defense.' Maria explained.

"I see, so the password usually has something to do with the thing its guarding?"

"Exactly," said Shadow.

"So what's the one to enter your room?" Evan asked, glancing at Shadow.

"Why do you ask?" replied Shadow, giving him a curious look back.

"Just wondering how it has to do with you. You know, like a personality thing. So, what is it?"

"It's a secret. Only Maria, the professor, and I know it. I'm not permitted to tell anyone because of the danger it poses to me and to other people," said Shadow in a serious tone.

"To other people? You won't kill anyone though, you're harmless."

Shadow chuckled darkly, "Not exactly. I may be good-natured but imagine if someone came into my room at night. I would believe them to be a threat to me and the rest of the colony. Most likely I would inflict heavy damage on them, and I don't mean simply a broken bone."

"Then why is Maria allowed to have it? She could do the same thing."

"I spend so much time with Maria I could recognize her in my sleep." Replied Shadow, smiling.

"I see," said Evan as they walked through the doorway into a giant, cluttered room filled with more jars, test tubes, capsules, and computers than you could count. Dozens of people were working diligently on their assigned tasks, and in front of the main computer stood Professor Gerald Robotnik. He looked up from his work as they came in and greeted them with a smile, "Good afternoon, and what have you three been up to recently?"

"We've been giving our friend, Evan, a tour of the colony," Maria replied.

The Professor turned toward Evan, "I take it when they gave you the tour, they only showed you the ultra-dangerous creations of mine?"

Evan smiled nervously, "Yeah, but they also showed me where Jacob lived too,"

The Professor frowned and turned toward Shadow, "Shadow, I told you to stay away from there. That poor child is scared to death of you,"

"It's not my fault he cringes at the sight of me! Besides, he never leaves his room I wasn't expecting he'd answer." Shadow replied angrily.

The Professor sighed, "I know, Shadow, and I have no idea why either. I still want you to keep away from there though. Your intentions may be good but I don't want to get any more anonymous complaints in my mail talking about horrible red and black monsters."

"Yes Professor," Shadow replied, lowering his head.

Suddenly Evan glanced around nervously, searching for something, "Where's my dad? Doesn't he work in here?"

"Actually yes, right over there," the Professor replied, pointing over to a cluttered desk in the corner with many strange colored test tubes and papers resting on it, "You just missed him. He's on dinner break right now."

"Good," Evan replied, relieved, "What does he do anyway?"

"He works on Project Shadow with me. Originally, it was just me but I've been so busy I had to hire an assistant on the project," Gerald explained.

"What? Are you saying that some weird man I've never met in my life is going to be watching my every movement!?!" Shadow boomed. A few heads turned. When they saw it was just the Professor and Shadow, they smirked and went back to work.

"No, he's only helping me with your exercises and the heavy paperwork that the government keeps sending up," the Professor replied, not even flinching at Shadow yelling.

Shadow dropped his angry expression and frowned, "Oh, sorry Professor."

"It's alright, just please don't scream like that or I'm going to need a hearing aid by the time I'm finished with you," said Gerald, and turning back to the others replied, "So what where you planning to see in here? I'd be more than happy to you anything in here."

"What's the newest thing you've been working on?" Maria asked.

The Professor grinned at that, "Follow me," he beckoned, leading them to a huge square box with countless whirring knobs and buttons, and to the side lay two platforms, "This is my latest invention, the cloning machine! It can clone anything, even organic tissue," exclaimed the Professor proudly.

"Can we try it?" Maria asked, with an eager glint in her eye much like the one the Professor had right now.

"I would advise against it. We've been testing it on animals and so far 1 out of 3 clones turn out insane and twice as strong as their original; another reason I can't put all my time towards you, Shadow. This thing will get me the money I need to continue my research, and without I would have to let go of a few others projects," the Professor replied, turning away from the machine's main console, "By the way, Shadow, your training with Dr. Carl Stanley starts tomorrow. Try to be nice to him, okay? I don't want him thinking negatively of you.

"Too late," Evan muttered under his breath.

"Yes, Professor. Do I have to stay in here for some modifications?" Shadow asked.

"Ah yes. Thank you for reminding me, Shadow. I'll be right back," said the scientist, hurrying off to get ready for Shadow.

"I'd better get home if my parents are eating dinner. I'll see you guys around!" Evan yelled as he ran for the door.

Maria sighed, "I guess I'll go back to my quarters and read." She turned towards the door and walked off.

The Professor turned a corner and walked over to where the group was just standing. He looked around, confused, "Where did everybody run off too?"

Shadow shrugged, "Don't ask me."

_Evan's Quarters_

As Evan's family was sitting down to a relaxing dinner, Evan's mother asked, "So how was your day honey?"

"I got a tour of the colony from Maria," he replied, stuffing mashed potatoes into his mouth as fast as he could.

"Maria? Professor Gerald's granddaughter?" his father asked.

"Yeah why?"

"She just seems so strange to me, I mean she's lived in space her entire life; she must be lonely."

"No, she's got Jacob and Shadow, not to mention her grandfather to keep her company."

His father looked skeptically at Evan, "Now what would a little twelve-year-old girl like Maria want anything to do with Shadow?"

"I don't know, he's really nice though. I mean, Maria talks about him all the time," he replied, hastily adding the last part on.

His father sighed, "I hope so. Tomorrow I'm running a few tests with him. Professor Gerald won't be there, so I'll have to hope that he's as nice as everyone lets on. I've only seen him from a distance, and just that wasn't very pretty," Evan's father replied, thinking back to his morning in the café.

"Don't worry, Dad. I'm sure it'll be easy. You just have to write down how fast he runs and stuff. That's as easy as you could get," said Evan, comforting his father from across the table.

"Thanks, son. You don't know how much it means to me to have you two backing me up," he smiled.

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**Alrightly then, that's another one up for you guys. By the way I just realized a big mistake on my part. Jacob's real name is Arnold Towers according to the comics. I'm gonna keep it Jacob though because I'm too lazy to go back and change it, XD Also, I was looking back and I saw ****a lot**** of grammar errors on my part. Sorry! Now that I'm doing this whole computer writing book thing, there should be little or no errors now. Maybe one day I'll go back and change all that, so if you guys ever see that Jacob's name is suddenly Arnold, don't be surprised.**


	8. Report 001

Ooo, bonus chapter! These are probably gonna be between every chapter now so don't get all crazy happy on me.

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**Agent 057 Report:**

**Our flight to Space Colony ARK was smooth, and I had no trouble finding my way around, thanks to a full map of the colony I discovered in the research lab. Speaking of that, I have found Professor Gerald Robotnik's lab and plan to make a more thorough search of it, including his secret files. I will immediately send a report back as soon as I am finished.**

**Also, I believe that Professor Robotnik's granddaughter, Maria, may also be of use to us. She is almost never seen without our target, Project Shadow, and has highly important information on the colony. I will look into searching her room for anything that might be of use. As a girl, she must have a diary.**

**Nobody suspects me, not even fellow GUN agents. If all goes well when I hack into the main computer tomorrow night, they'll still be absolutely clueless.**

**I believe I found a potential ally, a local scientists' son named Jacob. He's known to hate Project Shadow with a passion, and I'm sure he'll take our side at the end of all this. I will look into recruiting him with you permission of course.**

**As I have said earlier, I will report any more discoveries as I go along with my work. Agent 057 out.**

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That's right. There's a spy on board Space Colony ARK. Your totally welcome to guess who it is in the reviews you guys are sure to be writing as I type. Please R&R


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